Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for treating lung diseases. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods that identify one or more target nerves of a lung and treats the target nerves non-invasively based on a three dimensional model of the lung.
Discussion of Related Art
Standard of care for lung diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD), or for lung-related diseases, such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis, gastro esophageal reflux, cardiovascular disease, and rhinosinusitis, has been focused largely on medical and/or drug management which are highly invasive to patients in general. For example, it has been reported for decades that lung denervation via localized and invasive means (e.g., surgery) may provide therapeutic benefit for asthma or emphysema.
Poor airflow generally results in breakdown of lung which causes lung diseases. Sometimes, walls of alveoli are damaged and, in result, air is trapped inside of the damaged alveoli of the lung so that amount air during inhalation and exhalation decreases and symptoms of lung diseases increase. One way to treat damaged alveoli may be denervation of a nerve so as to disable whole or parts of functions of the nerve that affects contraction of the damaged alveoli. Some medical devices have been developed to denervate nerves by inserting an ablation device to the target. For a variety of reasons, including the infirmity of pulmonary patients, and technical challenges the adoption of such devices for denervation has been relatively weak. The present disclosure provides an alternative methodology for treatment which may be applicable to a broader range of patients.